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Mothers in Arms
Mothers in Arms is the fourth short story which appeared in the anthology , published in May 1950. In the anthology it is preceded by L'Amour Provencal and followed by International Settlement. The story draws heavily from The Coward part of Spitfire Parade, to the extent of reusing some phrases in describing the air combat scene. The Coward itself, uses an idea from The Funk in Biggles of the Camel Squadron. Synopsis A Group Captain tells his adjutant to what extremes the maternal instinct can be capable of. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) To demonstrate the extreme limits of the maternal instinct, an R.A.F. Group Captain narrates a story about the time when he was commanding a Hawker Hurricane squadron during the Battle of Britain. Prudence Valerie was a pilot of the Woman's Air Transport Auxiliary who between her duties of ferrying exhausted aircraft back to the depot for reconditioning, also maintained a hen house which kept the squadron well supplied with eggs. One day, as the squadron was about to stand down for the evening, ten low flying Junkers bombers made a surprise attack. Amidst the pandemonium of falling bombs, the Group Captain managed to get airborne with seven other Hurricanes and gave chase. They had almost reached the bombers on a parallel course but the Group Captain saw that the bombers had joined up with other raiders into a large tight formation which would be very difficult, with the small force of Hurricanes, to break up and attack. The Group Captain was turning to intercept the bombers when, to his horror, he saw a Hurricane high above diving vertically down on the bomber formation. It somehow managed to avoid slamming into any of the Stukas and went right through them and then zoomed up at a speed calculated to tear off the wings. Two Junkers in trying to avoid the Hurricane collided with each other. One was seen streaming smoke. Others swerved wildly away. The formation was broken in the middle and the other Hurricanes could then move in to attack. The Group Captain could see that the Hurricane which performed the vertical dive belonged to Bill Tallen, and he had accounted for four enemy aircraft destroyed in two minutes, a new squadron record. His actions helped the squadron get another four, making a total of eight. Back on the ground, the Group Captain saw Tallen's aircraft approaching to land, heavily damaged. It was "no longer an aircraft. It was a colander." The Group Captain approached, not sure whether to reprimand or congratulate Tallen for his feat of mad flying. He was shocked to see Prudence Valerie, "white as chalk" and choking with rage. She showed him what had caused her to take such extreme measures. Her hen house had been destroyed by a bomb and her favourite chick, Agatha, had been killed. Characters *Prudence Valerie *Bill Tallen *Joe Lacey - equipment officer at an R.A.F. squadron Aircraft *Hawker Hurricane *Junkers bomber - the text is not specific which. The bombers made diving attacks but both Ju 87 Stuka and the Ju 88 could do that. However the R.A.F. squadron commander mistook the approaching bombers for Blenheims, suggesting that they could well be twin-engine Ju88s. *Bristol Blenheim *Moth - probably meaning the De Havilland Gipsy Moth *Avro Manchester Ships Places Visited Research Notes Prudence was credited with four combat victories in two minutes. In The Coward, Henry Harcourt's similar feat might have led to some enemy aircraft being destroyed but the text is not specific and he gets no such accreditation. In the Miklo graphic novel adaptation, Squadron Biggles, Henry is credited with three victories. Publication History *''Short Sorties'', Latimer House, 1950 *Biggles Flies Again Vol. 1 No. 12, 2003 *''Short Sories and Sky Fever'', Norman Wright, 2006 References Category:Short stories Category:Adult short stories Category:Other short stories